Sexual Abuse Can Happen to Anyone

Any kind of sexual behaviors or touching another person’s breasts, genitals or buttocks without that person’s permission (also known as consent) is sexual assault. The age at which someone can consent to sex varies from state to state, but no one who is under 16 can legally consent to sex in any state. Sexual abuse is a form of sexual assault. It includes forcing or pressuring a young person to have sexual intercourse (rape) or any sexual behavior between an adult and a young person who is too young to agree to this behavior. Sexual assault can happen to anyone, and it is illegal. Sexual abuse is a lot more common than we think, and it’s never okay, even if the person committing the abuse is someone a person knows or a relative.

It is important to remember that sexual abuse is never the fault of the person being abused, even if the person doing the abusing or touching says it’s the young person’s fault. What a person was wearing or if they had been using drugs or alcohol does not make sexual abuse the fault of the person who is abused. Sexual abuse, regardless of the situation, is never okay. Sometimes a person may feel like sexual abuse is their fault because the touching felt good, but sexual abuse is never the young person’s fault.

Sexual abuse has nothing to do with a person’s sexual orientation. If a person is heterosexual, they are still heterosexual, even if they are abused by a person of the same gender. And if a person who is gay or lesbian is sexually abused by a person of a different gender, that does not make them heterosexual. If a person is sexually abused, it’s important for them to talk to someone they trust about what happened—regardless of the gender of the person who committed the abuse.

If you or someone you know was touched in a way that was not okay or if you were forced to touch someone else in a way that makes you uncomfortable, don’t keep it a secret. Even if the person who did this is an adult or an older kid who told you not to tell anyone, you should tell someone. Tell someone you trust—like a parent, family member, teacher, friend’s parent or neighbor. If the first person you tell doesn’t do anything, tell someone else you trust. Keep telling adults you trust until you get help.